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(Arsinoe) On the Run
Author: Illyria
Date: 03-15-08 13:59
Quinctillius Crumm tentatively stepped out from behind a thick grouping of alder trees and looked first one way and then in the other before crossing a short piece of clearing to the banks of the Beaulieu River, which cut through the New Forest in Hampshire, England. He knelt by the cool, narrow stream and unslung a battered canteen from his shoulder. After unscrewing the cap, he dipped the canteen into the water and filled it to the brim.
"Is it safe?"
Quin looked up and over his shoulder, spying his wife, Arsinoe, standing with her fingertips pressed to the trunk of a tree. He nodded.
"It seems that way, for now. Here." He held out the canteen.
Arsinoe came forward and gently knelt onto the moss and dirt beside her husband. She took the canteen and drank generously. When she finished it, he refilled it for himself.
"I should like a bath," Arsinoe said, as she watched the water trickle over stones and carry away leaves and twigs that fell into its path.
They'd been on the run for an entire month, never staying in the same location for too long. Already they'd had a few close calls with snatchers but so far had managed to evade every attempt at capture. Neither was sure how much longer they'd stay so lucky, but they were determined not to give up. Arsinoe absentmindedly massaged her growing stomach. In a few more months, she and Quin would have a little baby boy or girl for whom to care. Hiding and running would be made all the more difficult, but it would be even more worth the trouble.
Arsinoe already imagined and feared giving birth in the middle of nowhere, with no one but Quin to guide her through the process. How fortunate that he was a healer, even though childbirth wasn't exactly his area of expertise.
He refilled the canteen after drinking his share. "I think we can afford to stay here a little while longer. Go ahead and wash up and take a nap, too. I'll keep watch, just in case."
Arsinoe could see the bags under her husband's eyes. He slept far less than she did, though she saw to it that he got at least a little bit everyday. She reached over and squeezed his hand. He squeezed it back and leaned over to kiss her cheek.
"One day we'll be able to stop running. We'll have our house, our child, and our lives back. You'll see."
Arsinoe attempted a small smile. She hoped Quin was right and that things would one day return to normal, but she feared things would only get worse for them before they'd get better.
Community Bath
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 03-15-08 14:56
A line of about twenty inmates, all of the female, were led down a corridor to the bath, which they only visited once a week, much to Minerva's chagrin. Cleanliness had always been a virtue she kept in the highest regard. At least she rarely exerted herself enough to require a daily shower, though on principle she wished she could have one everyday anyway.
The women, a few of whom she knew personally or through acquaintances, were all bound magically at the wrists and ankles, so that they could only shuffle along or risk falling flat on their noses without their arms to support them, should they stumble. The bathroom itself was a single room with twenty shower heads evenly spaced on the walls. There were no windows and only one single door, which was guarded from the outside by a pair of female officers and by another pair just inside the room. In short, the women had no where to run while their arms and legs were free of their shackles.
Within entering the bathroom, each woman's bonds vanished. They shed their dirty robes and undergarments and threw them into a bin to be washed and moved down the line of shower heads, until all twenty women were naked and standing under a stream of water. Minerva had always been a modest woman and loathed the fact that anyone could see her in all her glory. She herself did her best to not look at anything but the tiles in front of her.
After five minutes, the water shut off automatically. Twenty towels flew about the room, one for each witch. Minerva toweled herself off quickly and wrapped herself up, impatiently awaiting a clean set of clothing so that she could cover herself up properly. Fresh undergarments and robes came next, and while they looked ugly and felt itchy, they at least smelled clean. She dressed quickly and got in line to return to her cell. Her wrists and ankles were rebound. Within minutes, the line of clean witches headed in the same direction it had come.
Minerva did her best to memorize the corridors she walked, though she knew they changed regularly and that she would never get the pattern right if she ever got the chance to escape. Still, she tried with the hopes that one day, she might get lucky. The officers reached the cell block and ushered the women in, one by one. Minerva's cell was exactly in the middle of the block. She didn't lose her bonds until the cell door clang shut.
She sat down on her uncomfortable cot, leaned her head back against the stone wall and expelled a sigh. She wondered about Severus, Filius and Hagrid. Where were they within this prison? Were they fairing well? Had anyone else at Hogwarts been arrested since their arrests all those weeks ago? She wished she had some answers to her many questions.
Another Arrest
Author: Forest
Date: 03-15-08 14:56
"I'm going for a sandwich, Prunella. Would you like something?"
Forst steps from the hallway into the outer office, expecting to see Prunella there. She's not at her desk and the sign she puts up when she's gone to lunch isn't visible so Forest takes it that she's stepped out to do something else. He goes into his office thinking he'll wait a little bit for her to return and then ask if she wants a sandwich or something.
Forest loses himself in some paperwork and when he's done nearly an hour later it occurs to him he never heard Prunella come back. Forest goes out and looks over her desk for some note or sign of where she went that's taking so long. If she mentioned anything to him about being out of the office for a prolonged period, his normally excellent memory is failing him.
Thinking that perhaps Prunella simply got hung up on something she thought would take only a few minutes, Forest dashes off a note about going to lunch and leaves it on her desk. He's only gone for about a half hour and when he walks into the office again there's still no Prunella and his note is right where he'd left it. He crumples it and tosses it into basket near her desk, perching on the side of the desk trying to think where she might be.
Forest is not in the habit of worrying about Prunella nor is he prone to constantly keeping tabs on her. It's that Prunella does not normally leave her desk for long periods of time without letting him know. This is very atypical of her.
Forest starts working his way down the hall, asking others if they've seen Prunella. He's reached an intersection in the hall and is trying to decide if he wants to first look left, right, or keep going straight. The decision is made for him when Berwyck Oldridge comes up on his right.
"You're looking for Prunella Cromwell? I ran into her the lift a bit ago. She was going to one of the courtrooms to speak with someone."
"Thanks, Berwyck."
Forest heads to the nearest bank of elevators, riding one as far as it will go then walking to the courtrooms. In the third courtroom he checks Forest finds a few people.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Prunella Cromwell. Have any of you seen her?"
"Yes, she was here until a short time ago. We have been expecting you, Mr. Woods. We thought you'd be here before now."
"I'm sorry, what?"
Berwyck's voice comes from behind Forest at the same time a wand is pressed into the small of his back. "The Minister had hoped you'd be on our side, Forest. It's very annoying how self-righteous you've been while being wrong."
Forest takes two steps forward then turns to face Berwyck. "So this is how it's going to be?"
"We feel it's for the best. If it's any consolation, Prunella wasn't sent to Azkaban."
"It's not. Do I get a trial at least?"
"You've had one. Sorry you didn't get the memo to be here for it."
Berwyck gives a nod and the others in the courtroom relief Forest of his wand and read him his sentence: Life in Azkaban.
A Spy?
Author: Jared
Date: 03-15-08 17:24
Herbology comes to an end and with thoughts of an early lunch, Sage and Jared start back to the castle. Once well out of earshot of the greenhouse Jared says, "I'm starting to think some of the rumors about Professor Masterson are true."
"Such as?" Sage asks, shifting his bookbag up to his shoulder.
Jared shrugs. "Such as how he tries so bloody hard to make sure we all know just how opposed to the Snide and her evil horde he is."
Sage is scrutinizing the ground as he walks. Jared wonders if he's thinking about Aaron Miller and Cora Fields. They are part of Sage's extended family and a Ministry decree dissolving Professor Sacheverelle's marriage to Professor Miller doesn't automatically dissolve familiar feelings a person might have; at least not for most people. Jared has no problem imagining his cousin Basil being told that he's not longer related to Etta and Jared and Basil being perfectly fine with that and never thinking about either of them again.
Jared is just about to apologize for being insensitive when Sage has a hell of a lot more important things on his mind when Sage says, "He does, doesn't he? I never gave it much thought before even though I've heard the rumors too. You think he is in with Hairy's crowd?"
Jared chews on his lip for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah. Yeah, I think maybe he is. Try to be chums with us in hopes we'll say things around him we might not otherwise. Then he runs off like a good little spy to report what we've said."
A pair of hands come up between the boys and shove them apart. Alanna Beck steps into the gap, hotly informing them, "Lawrence Masterson is NOT one of Snider's spies."
Jared's so surprised by Alanna's interruption and her vehemence that he forgets to be too awed to speak coherently. "What makes you so sure?"
Sage asks, "Do you have a crush on him? I know some of the girls do. I've heard them talking."
Alanna shakes her head sharply enough her long locks hit both boys in the face. "No, I do not have a crush on him."
Jared repeats, "What makes you so sure he's not a Snider spy?"
"I just do."
"Just because isn't very convincing," Jared points out.
"It's because he's," Alanna cuts herself off.
Sage prompts, "Because he's?"
A smile lights up Alanna's face and at the same time she looks, for some reason, relieved. "It's because he's a good friend of Toby's and Bronwyn's. With them being friends I've ended up spending some social time with him as well. He isn't a spy."
Jared still isn't entirely convinced but he also wants to believe Alanna. He ends up saying, "Okay. He's not a spy. He does try too hard though."
Sage nods in agreement with Jared's assessment causing Alanna to roll her eyes at both of them. "Maybe there's a reason for that you've not thought of, Jared Wynbourne."
Alanna picks up her pace and walks on ahead of Sage and Jared with Jared intently watching her nicely shaped behind. Sage hits him on the back of the head. "You're drooling. Hurry up. I'm hungry."
"Nah, if we hurry I can't admire the view."
This earns him another wallop to the back of his head but Jared doesn't alter his pace.
An Hour of Reflection
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 03-16-08 09:15
Easter break had been wonderful. He'd spent the time with the people he considered family, Ariella and the Becks. Though it was a somber holiday given that their half-sister Katherine was now in Azkaban. They'd returned to school and things had not improved at all, in fact they have perhaps gotten worse.
He'd heard the rumors that students thought he was a spy for Hairy the Snide, he tried to hard. He knew how Hogwarts -should- be and this nightmare was not how the school he'd fallen in love with was supposed to be. There wasn't supposed to be this fear of going to classes, this fear of being cursed if they even speak out of turn.
He was worried about Toby and Bronwyn who in the eyes of the British government were not legally married. There was so much stress both inside and out of Hogwarts, and not to mention the fact that he was romantically involved with one of his students. He still worried about what would happen if their relationship was discovered. He would most likely be sacked, but it wasn't only his job that was in danger, but Ariella's education at Hogwarts.
He debated going to the great hall for lunch, or going to Hogsmeade. He only had about an hour, so Hogsmeade would not be an option for lunch. He, in truth wasn't at all hungry. Lunch would not be a meal he had today, perhaps he'd grab something at dinner.
His third year class was beginning to file in. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he sighed. "Alright ladies and gentleman today we are going to be talking about the porcupine pineapple."
Propaganda
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 03-16-08 12:10
The door at the end of the hall creaked open. A guard entered, pushing a wooden cart laden with books. He stopped before each cell, asking whether the inmate wanted reading material with which to pass the time. Some selected a book. Others declined the offer, particularly when the choices weren't exactly what was expected. When the cart stopped before Ethan's cell, he rose from his cot to inspect his options.
Muggle Persecution by Wizards. Pureblood Superiority. The Problem with Half-Bloods. These were just some of the titles on the cart. The rest were in the same vein, touting pureblood wizards while prejudicing against those with impure bloodlines. Ethan stepped back from the bars of his cell with disgust.
"Ministry of Magic propaganda, is this?" he asked the guard with disdain.
"Are you going to take a book or not?" the guard queried sharply, ignoring Ethan's question.
"Not," Ethan retorted, returning to his cot. He sat down, pulling one leg up and resting his arm over his knee.
Next door, Severus Snape mused at the cart for a few minutes. He selected a title and returned to his own cot to read just how the Ministry of Magic wanted to dishearten wizards like him and most of the others at Azkaban.
Ethan leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes. He wished he could be outside Azkaban, fighting the oppression against nons. Ethan never did like sitting around and doing nothing, especially when there was so much to be done.
His mind wandered to his family, the Towneleys. None of them knew that he'd been arrested. He knew that they were probably worried about him. He worried about them too, even though they were probably perfectly safe where they were in Bristol.
He reopened his eyes and climbed to his feet when the cart made its return trip down the corridor. "I changed my mind," he told the guard. "Give me one, any one."
The guard pulled a random book from the cart and passed it through the bars of Ethan's cell. It was called Us and Them: Why Purebloods Outrank Nons. Resisting the impulse to throw the book into the latrine, Ethan took it to his cot, sat down, opened to the first page and started to read.
Meeting
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 03-16-08 17:40
Phin and Jewel sit on a large blanket, enjoying the last bit of sunlight before the sun goes down further, and waiting on Emerald and Bailey. Even though they're step-siblings, they make sure to keep enough space between them so that none of the evil ones around school might get the wrong idea and bust them for breaking rules.
Emerald is the first to arrive, coming from Care of Magical Creatures. Bailey's got Divination but although the purebloods' class meets on the first floor of the castle, he's got further to walk than Emerald.
She drops her satchel to the ground then sits next to Jewel. Phin wants to give her a kiss but Slytherin Peter Allen is nearby and keeps looking their way. Peter is just the sort who'd rush off to report a very public kiss between a pure and a non so Phin has to make do with a regular verbal greeting.
"Hi, how was class?"
"It was okay. Professor Mockridge isn't vicious like certain others are but he doesn't seem comfortable with teaching."
"I've noticed that too," Jewel agrees. "I've wondered why he agreed to do the job."
"Maybe he wasn't given much choice," Phin theorizes.
Jewel nods, "I can see that happening."
"On a different topic, have you heard from your mother?" Emerald asks her.
"Yeah. She sent an owl to Furnella who gave the letter to Professor Hodfuffer who then handed it off to me. She and Virgil are all settled in and she's already made some friends. Cassandra is growing fat and sassy like a healthy baby should. She sent pictures of them in their new place."
Jewel digs out the photos and by the time they've passed them around Bailey's arrived. He has the same wants to kiss his girlfriend expression that Phin knows was on his own face a short time ago. Bailey plops onto the blanket on the same end as Phin. "Hi, all. Sorry I'm late. Professor Askew kept us a little over."
Jewel holds up the photos, "We were passing these around. From my mum."
Bailey takes them, looking through the stack as Phin tells them why he asked the three to meet him this afternoon. "After Professor Miller got his niece away from Hogwarts and then went missing, Uncle AJ has been hesitant about something. Remember how I asked him to talk with Mom about a meeting place for some of us over the break?"
"Which ended up a no go when the nons were made to stay at school," Bailey nods.
"Are you thinking maybe for the next Hogsmeade Saturday even though it's weeks away?" Emerald asks.
"And even though we nons only get thirty minutes round trip?" this from Jewel.
"Nope, not thinking about Hogsmeade Saturday. We need more than one meeting and more than two seconds for the nons to participate. Uncle AJ had thought of an alternative, something accessible to us here at school. As I said, he had doubts about telling me his idea but for some reason changed his mind."
Glancing about to make sure no one's within earshot, Phin drops his voice and fills the other three in on AJ's idea of using the rooms along the secret passageway he'd found.
When he's done Jewel asks, "Okay, so when's the first meeting and who should be there?"
"We four to start then go from there?" Bailey suggests.
"Yeah, I like that," Phin agrees. "Friday around noon is good for everyone, right?"
"Right," Emerald says.
"Perfect," Jewel chimes in.
"Good for me," Bailey says.
Dropping his voice more, Phin then proceeds to outline for them what the entrances to the passageway are and where to find the room they'll use on Friday.